Weekend access to Paediatric Services at Daisy Hill Hospital
Extended weekend opening hours at Daisy Hill Hospital’s Paediatric Ambulatory Ward will make life easier for families.
The Paediatric Ambulatory Ward (PAW) caters for a variety of patients including those who need a short period of observation or treatment which does not require an overnight stay.
The service is now available Monday to Friday from 9am to 10pm and Saturdays and Sunday from 2pm to 8pm, meaning that staff can treat more children in the ambulatory setting preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and less disruption is caused to family life.
The Ward is based on the fourth floor of the hospital beside Children’s Ward and is staffed by Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioners who are supported by the Medical Team.
The Ward takes referrals from Children’s Community Nursing, Community Midwifery, Health Visiting, GPs or the Emergency Department and treats children with a wide range of conditions including dehydration, respiratory issues, vomiting and fever.
The team also offers health promotion support and advice to parents and uses their treatment room to prepare children for planned investigations.
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Laura Spiers, Lead Nurse for Acute Paediatrics explained, “Coming to hospital can be a stressful experience for children and quite disruptive for families as parents normally want to stay overnight with their child.
“PAW is designed to avoid these issues for many families by reducing length of stay and preventing overnight admissions for suitable patients. We are now able to treat children for a wider range of conditions in the Ward and prepare them for procedures in a more child friendly environment.
“We also hope that by extending the hours and being more accessible we will be able to treat many more children and give families the added benefit of arranging their child’s hospital care around their normal lifestyle.”
Children with complex needs and those with open access to children’s ward may be treated in PAW depending on their condition. All children seen in PAW can have access to the Community Children’s Nursing Team if needed to provide follow up care when they go home – for example changing dressings or administering IV antibiotics.
Work is also ongoing at Daisy Hill for the new custom designed Paediatric Centre which will be on the on the sixth floor of the hospital and is scheduled for completion late 2017. Staff are doing everything they can to minimise disruption whilst this work continues.
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